Riz Ahmed Reportedly In Talks With Sony For 'Venom' Role

Ahmed is possibly set to play Carnage in the Marvel/Sony project alongside Tom Hardy.

Riz Ahmed’s career looks like it’s continuing to go from strength to strength, with reports that the British star is in talks with Sony to star in the Spider-Man spin-off movie Venom, alongside fellow Brit Tom Hardy.

Ever since he broke through to the wider industry’s consciousness with a memorable supporting role in 2014's Nightcrawler, the 34 year old British-Pakistani actor has landed starring roles in Jason Bourne, Star Wars spin-off Rogue One and TV series ‘The OA’ and ‘Girls’.

However, Variety reports on Thursday (August 10th) that the actor is now in talks with Sony studios to star in Marvel Comics’ Venom – a film NOT related to the recent Spider-Man: Homecoming, confusingly – possibly as the extremely popular character Carnage.

Riz Ahmed is in talks with Sony for a role in 'Venom', possibly as Carnage

Venom already has Tom Hardy confirmed as the titular character, Spidey’s arch-nemesis, with the script to be written by Scott Rosenberg (Jumanji) and Jeff Pinkner (The Dark Tower). No director has been yet been announced for the project.

However, conflicting reports in The Hollywood Reporter suggest that although Sony is looking to cast the role of Carnage, it is considering Ahmed for a different role. The movie is set for cinematic release on October 5th, 2018.

The Venom story concerns a photographer named Eddie Brock who bonds with an alien symbiotic creature and becomes Peter Parker’s enemy – although some iterations have seen Venom cast as an anti-hero and a protector of the innocent.

Ahmed, who also performs music under the moniker of Riz MC, recently starred in the acclaimed HBO drama series ‘The Night Of’, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination.